Gaza premier Ismail Haneyya said that his government and Hamas movement understand Egyptian security concerns especially in Sinai but still demand reopening Rafah crossing. Haneyya told Al-Rai news agency on Monday that the Palestinian people hope all the best for Egypt and pray for an end to the bloodshed in that country. However, the premier underlined that the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were harmed by the Egyptian closure of the Rafah border terminal and hoped for its permanent opening particularly when “we did not harm anyone and did not and will not threaten Egypt’s security”. Haneyya said that opening the Rafah crossing was a natural right for the Palestinians and it should not be closed before their movement. Cairo said that it was closing the Rafah terminal for an indefinite period, which exacerbated the crisis of passengers wishing to travel outside or into the besieged Strip and harmed sick persons who are seeking treatment outside Gaza.

The Egyptian authorities told Palestinian officials at the Rafah crossing that the terminal would be closed in both directions until further notice. Responsible sources in Gaza told the PIC reporter that the Egyptian authorities claimed that the closure was due to the security conditions and tensions in Egypt in general and in Sinai Peninsula in particular especially after 24 Egyptian policemen were killed in an attack on two buses in Egyptian Rafah on Monday morning. The Rafah crossing is experiencing its worst days since the end of last June after the Egyptian military ousted the elected president Mohammed Morsi. The Egyptian authorities close the crossing for several days then open it partially for a few hours for certain categories of people.

Hamas movement called on free people of the region and the world to exert all efforts possible to lift the siege on Gaza Strip especially after the closure of Rafah crossing and destruction of most of the tunnels. Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, called in a press release on Sunday for organizing the biggest ever sea convoy to Gaza to break its siege after the latest developments.

The Gaza Strip has been under siege since 2006 but its impact gravely worsened following the 30th June events in Egypt, as the Egyptian army destroyed Rafah tunnels and blocked entry of goods into the coastal enclave while almost completely closing the Rafah crossing.

Member of the political bureau of Hamas Mousa Abu Marzouk stressed that Hamas will not be separated from its people and the rest of Palestine, and will remain a resistance movement until liberating the land and achieving the right of return. Abu Marzouk, in a statement on Sunday on his Facebook page, called on Palestinians in the West Bank to rebel against the occupation in order to expel it from the Palestinian land, to demolish the wall and end settlement construction. He stressed that the Gaza Strip is part of the land of Palestine, and that it has rebelled against Israel since the Palestinian Nakba, and pointed out that all the liberation movements, led by Fatah, and resistance movements, led by Hamas, were launched from Gaza.

Gaza Ministry of Interior and National Security confirmed that the Palestinian-Egyptian borders, in the southern Gaza Strip, are safe and secured, and that Ma'an news agency is publishing lies to incite against Gaza. The ministry pointed in a press release on Saturday that the national security forces are deployed along the borders with Egypt, and it is not true that Egyptian parties targeted the Palestinian National Security as alleged by Ma'an agency. The reports published by Ma'an News Agency are pure lies and fabrications, the Ministry of Interior added, asserting that there have been no shootings from the Palestinian side towards the Egyptian border. Ma'an agency has continued its policy of incitement against the Palestinian people and the resistance in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian young activists and journalists organized on Saturday a sit-in in the center of Gaza city, in protest at Ma'an's policy that aims to incite against Gaza and Hamas. Activist Majed Abu Salama said such a policy "affects the stability of our people and our constants." The protesters raised slogans and banners demanding the Attorney General in Gaza, Ismail Jabr to close Ma'an Agency's office once and for all.

The Egyptian authorities opened the Rafah border crossing between Sinai and Gaza Strip only partially on Sunday morning. Maher Abu Sabha, the director of crossings, told the PIC reporter that the Egyptian authorities opened the crossing at 11.00 am local time and said it would remain open until 03.00 pm. He said that the Egyptian authorities said that the crossing would be open in both directions but would only allow holders of foreign residences and sick people to enter Egypt from Gaza. The Egyptian authorities had suddenly opened the crossing on Saturday nearly at the same time and said that only one busload of passengers would be allowed to cross then backtracked on its decision at the pretext the computers went out of order.

Palestinians are not being allowed to cross into Egypt via the Rafah crossing, a Hamas official said Sunday.

Maher Abu Sabha, general director of the ministry of interior in Gaza, told Ma'an that the Rafah crossing was open on Saturday, but no passengers from Gaza were allowed to cross over.

"The Egyptian side asked us to allow only one bus to enter and we prepared it and sent it to the Egyptian side, however, no passengers were allowed before 2 p.m and after, 50 travelers were allowed into Gaza, but no Palestinians were allowed into Egypt at all," he said.

There has been no information about whether the crossing will be open on Sunday, he added.

On Saturday Egypt "reopened the Rafah crossing to allow through international travelers" who hold foreign passports and "humanitarian cases," Gaza's interior ministry said.

Days earlier, Egypt announced it was closing "indefinitely" the Rafah crossing for security reasons a day after deadly violence nationwide.

Egypt briefly reopened the Rafah crossing on Saturday for humanitarian reasons to allow in some 50 people who were stranded in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas interior ministry said.

Egypt had on Thursday announced it was closing "indefinitely" the only crossing -- the only route into the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave that bypasses Israel -- for security reasons a day after deadly violence nationwide.

The move had left hundreds of Palestinians stranded on both sides of the border, witnesses said.

On Saturday Egypt "reopened the Rafah crossing to allow through international travelers" who hold foreign passports and "humanitarian cases," the interior ministry said.

It was referring to people in need of medical treatment in Egyptian hospitals.

Hamas is allied with the Muslim Brotherhood of deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.

On Wednesday nearly 600 people, most of them Morsi supporters, were killed in a crackdown by Egyptian security forces on two protest camps in Cairo.

Hamas denounced the crackdown but on Saturday spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement that the Islamist movement "has not and will not be a party in Egypt's internal affairs".

Hamas, he added, would also not accept "interference" by any Gaza-based group in Egypt.

The Egyptian authorities retained the Rafah border terminal between Sinai and Gaza Strip closed for the third day running. Those authorities attributed the closure to the continued security disturbances in various areas of Egypt especially in northern Sinai. The Egyptian authorities had suddenly declared the indefinite closure of the crossing on Thursday in both directions.

Egypt on Thursday closed its border crossing with the Gaza Strip in both directions indefinitely due to the ongoing unrest in the country, Palestinian officials said.

Mahir Abu Sabha, director of border crossings in the Hamas-run government in Gaza, confirmed in a statement that Egypt officially informed his department that the Rafah crossing would be closed in both directions “due to bad security conditions in North Sinai district.”

The Gaza ministry of interior had announced Wednesday that all passenger registration offices were closed and all previous passenger lists were cancelled.

Since July 3, the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only exit to the outside world, has been operating at a reduced capacity for emergency cases only.

Only holders of visas and passports from foreign countries, Egyptian citizens and Gaza patients have been allowed to leave Gaza via Rafah crossing.

The Palestinian government in Gaza stressed that the economic indicators threaten a disaster in the Strip during the third quarter of this year, due to the tightening of the siege and the closure of the tunnels. Hatem Owaida, Undersecretary of the Ministry of National Economy in Gaza, indicated that tightening the security measures on the Egyptian tunnels connecting the Gaza Strip and Egypt would lead to "a real catastrophe", adding that "closing the tunnels will directly affect the lives of citizens."

Owaida pointed out that the residents of Gaza resorted to the tunnels to bring their needs in light of the Israeli tightened procedures on the official crossings.

He said the tunnels help in importing part of the construction materials for the reconstruction of Gaza, noting that the Gaza Strip needs six thousand tons of gravel, four thousand tons of cement and three thousand and five hundred tons of iron per day. The tunnels could not provide such large quantities, but only a small percentage of them.

12 aug 2013

Gazans Suffer as Result of Imposed Restrictions by Egypt

The Egyptian military has kept the Rafah crossing with the Gaza Strip sealed since last Thursday citing the Eid-Ul-Fitr holiday.

Photo of Israeli landscape with separation wall in background at Ben-Gurion Airport

The very first thing visitors to Israel see when they walk through Ben-Gurion International Airport’s arrivals hall is an illuminated, panoramic landscape photo showing an area where the West Bank meets Israel. Right smack dab in the middle of it is none other than Israel’s separation barrier.

It is as if Israel is proudly saying to its visitors: Welcome to the land of milk and honey, segregation and oppression. As if the wall/fence/barrier has become such an integral part of the landscape that whoever installed this lovely photo montage didn’t even notice.

Or maybe they forgot to photoshop it out and it’s a major oversight (that somebody made a real f–k up)?

Either way, this is mind-boggling – and it certainly takes Israeli hasbara (state PR) to a whole new level. Could it be Israel has reached a point where it is so sure of its own policies that parading around a photo of the ugly separation barrier is totally normal? Considering the way it has been parading around new settlement construction during peace talks, I wouldn’t be surprised.

The photo was uploaded to Facebook Monday morning by Hagit Ofran, settlement director of Peace Now, and published here with her permission.

Over 120 Israeli military checkpoints divide the 5,640 square kilometer West Bank, serving to restrict Palestinians from accessing necessary services such as medical facilities, schools and universities, work opportunities, and religious sites. Trips that took 20 minutes before the emergence of checkpoints, for example from Ramallah to Jerusalem, now take four or five times as long. There are two ways for Palestinian workers to cross into Israeli occupied territories: those with permits can pass through a military checkpoint, and those without a permit have to find a way to sneak through the illegal Israeli barrier.Passing through checkpoints: Passing through checkpoints has become a part of the daily routine for many Palestinians going to work, visiting family, and even running errands or seeing a doctor. Every morning thousands of workers arrive at the checkpoints long before dawn, anticipating hours of delays before they are able to enter the Israeli occupied territories to begin their day of work.. The checkpoints, which are maintained in the name of ‘security,’ are set up in unnecessary maze formations, forcing the crowds of Palestinians to walk through an endless array of metal turnstiles, revolving doors, and narrow passages. Others necessitate a 2-mile uphill walk before reaching the border control officers. In order to cross through a checkpoint, women and children, men over the age of 35, and whoever else is able to attain an entry permit, are herded in large groups, resembling sheep at a slaughterhouse, from one check area to the next. It is so crowded that people are lined up bosom to back, shoulder to shoulder, elbowing their way through the crowd. Dozens of Israeli soldiers stand at every corner with lethal weapons and bark commands at the crowds, occasionally fingering their rifles. After hours of standing in line and navigating the checkpoint maze, the Palestinian in question has hopefully been allowed to pass to the side. From there, the crowds wait for buses that arrive every few minutes and take them to their final destinations. Once a bus arrives, the people, who’ve been there for a long time by this point, compete for a seat on a bus, or just a spot to stand in an aisle. Palestinians need to cross through checkpoints not only to access work and religious sites, but often to access medical facilities. Israeli soldiers are known to prohibit entry to sick persons and women in childbirth. Preventable and usually intentional delays at military checkpoints are a common cause of death for Palestinians. Additionally, Red Crescent Society ambulances carrying patients in emergency conditions are often banned from passing through the checkpoints, and are on occasion attacked, resulting in damage of the vehicles, and on several accounts injuries to the already-sick patients. Checkpoints, which make it so difficult for Palestinian youth and university students to reach their academic institutions that many are forced to withdraw, and which also limit Palestinians from accessing jobs in the occupied territories, and restrict the movement of goods, straining the region’s economy, are a daily reminder and literal manifestation of Israel’s military occupation of Palestine. They serve to terrorize, discipline, interrupt, and monitor the daily lives of Palestinians. Additionally, the checkpoints are notorious for being sites of severe harassment, threats, and violence. Detention, shackling, blindfolding, and stripping are not uncommon. Adults and children alike face unnamable dehumanization when attempting to pass these arbitrary borders into lands that were illegally seized from them decades ago, but where they still have relatives, farms, abandoned houses, and memories.

Other Methods of Entering Israeli Occupied Territories

Checkpoints effectively disrupt the rights of movement of thousands of Palestine’s who are unable to attain permits or fall into one of the prohibited age and gender groups. 30,000 of them are Palestinian “ghost” workers, unable to attain permits to wok in the occupied territories.

Photoblogger Ammar Awad’s series Commuting from the West Bank describes one such technique, which involves workers driving in trucks to points in the barrier that have been cut open. When the workers are dropped off by the driver, they climb through the wall, and are received by another driver, who is expecting them. That is, if they aren’t first intercepted by the Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) or border control.

A 20 year old male resident of Bethlehem said that he, and many others climb the wall by setting up a ladder on one side of it. “I go to pray in the Mosque in al-Quds (also known as Jerusalem) because it is our Mosque on our land,” he said, then showed me a large scar on his right arm, from jumping over barbed wire. Those who are forced to illegally cross the border are in physical danger of hurting themselves, and of being arrested or shot by the IOF.

Local activists in Bethlehem created a campaign called “Now I have permit, where do I go?” that attempts to raise awareness about the impact of Palestinian’s spending their money in the occupied territories and on settlement goods. One of the campaigns, accompanied by a protest, took place yesterday afternoon. Activists gave out flyers with the names and locations of Palestinian owned shops located in the occupied territories, hoping that Palestinians who had received the Ramadan entry permits would spend their money in ways not detrimental to the production of an independent Palestinian state.

The interior and national security ministry in Gaza declared on Wednesday that the Egyptian authorities decided to close the Rafah border terminal with Gaza for four days. Director of the crossings and borders department Maher Abu Sabha said that the terminal would be closed in both directions starting Thursday till Sunday due to Eidul Fitr holiday. He said that the Egyptian authorities said the crossing would be reopened on Monday but with the new restrictions that only allow access for holders of foreign passports and sick people who have a certificate from the Palestinian health ministry. The Rafah border terminal has been only partially operating since July 4th with only limited number of working hours. The Egyptian authorities have since then allowed only 150 persons to enter its territory via that land route per day.

Hamas movement warned on Tuesday of a grave humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip as a result of the continued blockade. The movement said in a statement on Tuesday that the tightened measures at the Rafah border terminal (with Egypt) and the destruction of tunnels and the limited entry of goods via the Israeli-controlled Karm Abu Salem all point to an imminent humanitarian tragedy. It said that such conditions herald an economic collapse and are designed to pressure Gaza into giving up resistance and endorsing negotiations that are meant to liquidate the Palestine cause. Hamas warned of conducting such measures under flimsy security pretexts, adding that it had proven with documents that such pretexts were nothing but a suspicious media campaign aimed at securing political goals that are harmful to the Palestinian question. Hamas affirmed, in conclusion, that the Palestinian people despite the pains would confront and foil all such goals.

The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Monday erected a checkpoint near the crossroads of Ziv in Yatta, south of al-Khalil. Activist Rateb Jabour told PIC that the occupation forces erected a checkpoint near the crossroads of Ziv in Yatta and that the soldiers searched the vehicles, checked the identities of passers-by and arrested a number of youths. He added that the checkpoint lasted for several hours and the soldiers were deployed in the main street in the area. The IOF also arrested on Monday a citizen from Aroub refugee camp north of al-Khalil and transferred him to an unknown destination, local sources said. Israeli forces have recently launched at the entrance to the camp arrest campaigns targeting young men and boys under the pretext that they are involved in clashes against Israeli soldiers and settlers.

Since the closing of the Rafah crossing by the Egyptian army, the Gaza Strip has turned into a “big prison,” according to Hamas. Thousands have been stranded there, including students, patients and people holding visas and passports to other countries.

On Monday, around 285 truckloads containing a variety of necessities were delivered to the Gaza Strip, from Israel. There were also 150 tons of fuels, which will relieve the hospital emergency for now.

The trucks came via Kerem Shalom Crossing under the Coordination and Liaison Administration in Gaza. They also carried much needed construction materials.

The closing of Rafah has also impacted the number of foreign delegations that have been able to enter Gaza, according to the Hamas-controlled Foreign Ministry. While more than 180 delegations visited the Gaza Strip in the first six months of 2013, only two entered Gaza during July after the ouster of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.

The IOF erected a military checkpoint at the entrance to Beit Ummar village in al-Khalil, south of the occupied West Bank. Spokesperson of the Popular Committee to Resist Wall and Settlement in Beit Ummar, Mohammad Awad, told Quds Press that the occupation forces set up at early hours of the morning a military checkpoint at the entrance to Beit Ummar and searched Palestinian vehicles.

The Israeli forces declared the area as a closed military zone for hours and prevented all vehicles and buses from dropping off passengers coming from Jerusalem where they were performing prayers at al-Aqsa mosque to mark Lailatul Qadr.

Hospitals in the Gaza Strip are facing a fuel shortage, which has severely affected their ability to treat patients. The fuel is needed to power the hospitals’ generators. The fuel shortage has caused almost 500 Palestinian deaths and hundreds more are at risk of dying if the generators cannot run. The Egyptian army closed the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only point of entrance or exit on the 3rd of July, leaving thousands of people stranded. Egypt has also prevented the transport of basic necessities into the Gaza Strip via tunnels over the past few months. Several of the tunnels were flooded by the Egyptian army in February. The Gaza Strip has been under a land, aerial and naval blockade by the Israeli regime for six years following the election of Hamas, a Palestinian resistance movement, to govern the territory.

Omar Shaban, specialist in economic affairs, warned of the continuation of the closure and demolition of tunnels that supplies the besieged Gaza Strip with basic necessities of life, by Egyptian authorities. Shaaban urged the Palestinian government to form a "crisis cell" of at least 80 people representative of the Palestinian political spectrum and international institutions to overcome this crisis.

This came during a workshop held by the General Administration of sectorial coordination of the Ministry of Planning, in the presence of Minister of Planning Dr Ala Rafati Din, a number of human rights activists, ministers, MPs and leaders of the private sector and institutions.

For his part, Dr. Adnan Abu Amer talked about Gaza's relationship with Israel in light of the coup in Egypt, pointing out that the Israeli state has welcomed the coup.

Abu Amer expected that the occupation would wage a new aggression on the Gaza Strip taking advantage of the world's preoccupation with the Egyptian file.

The attendees also condemned the campaign against the Gaza Strip launched by the Egyptian media with the participation of the some media in the West Bank.

The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) blocked the travel of 13 Palestinians via the Karame border terminal between the West Bank and Jordan over the past week. The Karame police station said in a statement on Saturday that the Israeli intelligence refused the travel of those citizens under security pretexts. The Israeli intelligence usually detain those banned from travel for long periods of time before questioning them then ordering them back to their homes without giving reasons and on certain occasions detain some of them.

A Palestinian man awaits dialysis treatment at the kidney section of Shifa hospital in Gaza

The Health Ministry of the Gaza Strip has warned against fuel shortage in the besieged Palestinian territory, which has affected the work of hospitals.

The health ministry said many hospitals in Gaza are in dire need of fuel necessary for their power generators to function.

Nearly 500 Palestinian patients have died and hundreds more are at risk of death as a result of difficulties hospitals face due to the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.

In addition, the closure of the Rafah crossing - Gaza’s only gateway to the outside world - by the Egyptian army since July 3 has prevented thousands of people from crossing in and out, leaving many stranded, including patients, students, and people who hold visas and citizenships to other countries.

Egypt opens the crossing on specified days following the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi by the army.

Over the past months, Egypt has also blocked supply tunnels leading into Gaza, which are used to bring basic necessities. In February, the Egyptian army flooded several of the tunnels.

The Israeli regime imposed land, aerial, and naval blockade on the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after the democratically elected Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas took over the administration of the territory.

The blockade has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the impoverished enclave, having turned the territory into the world’s largest open-air prison.

There are currently millions of people rallying in Iran, showing their solidarity with the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation. The rallies are being held in honor of International Quds Day. Millions are voicing anger at the Israeli regime, and demanding freedom and justice for Palestinians. Iranian protesters are also directing their slogans toward the US for the essential role that the US plays in aiding the Israeli military’s violence against Palestinian civilians. Millions of people from more than 80 countries are also joining in solidarity and demanding an end to the Israeli occupation. The day before Intl. Quds Day, Iran’s Foreign Ministry stated that the “clear message conveyed by the Palestinian resistance and the Islamic Awakening in the Middle East is that the only way to save the Palestinian nation is for the Palestinian people and leaders to remain united and stand up to the occupying Israeli regime,” Press TV reported. International Quds day began in 1979 by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s late founder, Ayatollah Khomeini. Khomeini called for every last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to be an occasion for rallies in solidarity with Palestinians. This solidarity includes opposition to Israeli control in the city Jerusalem, for which Quds is the Arabic name.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry’s statement said that the working hours were reduced from 9 to 4 hours per day and that only Arabs, foreigners and the Palestinians who had dual citizenship were allowed to cross the border. Palestine's Foreign Ministry called for the permanent opening of the Rafah border gate between Gaza and Egypt. The Ministry demanded world public opinion to force the Israeli Government toward lifting the embargo and opening the Rafah border gate, said a statement issued by the ministry. The statement also said that the working hours were reduced from 9 to 4 hours per day and only Arabs, foreigners and the Palestinians who had dual citizenship were allowed to cross the border.Israel, which has been laying an embargo on Gaza which has a population of over 1 million since 2006, tightened the embargo after Hamas came to power in Gaza. This article was originally published on World Bulletin. Click here for the original ariticle

Israeli agents blackmail Palestinian patients into working as spies, at the Israeli controlled Erez crossing in northern Gaza in return for entry permits, Press TV reports. In July four Palestinians were detained, despite having exit permits. Husam Zaanin, from the town of Beth Hanoun, is the latest victim of the Tel Aviv regime's spy network. The 28-year-old was detained on July 23, despite being in possession of a permit to leave Gaza through the Erez crossing with his mother. Husam's mother returned home without her son, who refused to cooperate with them [as a spy] and that is why he got arrested despite his illness," Hussam's father informed PressTV. This practive traumatizes patiens like Husam as well as their families. The wife of another man who was arrested, tells PressTV, "My daughters keep crying and asking for their father. It is heartbreaking for me to be without my husband and I don't know when he's coming back. The Israelis gave him a permit to leave Gaza and then they arrested him. How low can they sink arresting a patient seeking treatment?" Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights reports that many Palestinian patients in the Gaza Strip are blackmailed to work as Israeli spies in order to attain exit permits to leave through the Israeli controlled crossing. Samir Zaqout, from Al-Mezan Center, said that Israeli agents use exit permits as a method of forcing Gazan patients in chronic conditions into working for them. "Patients are forced to choose either to collaborate with Israel or die in Gaza. Under the Geneva Convention or several international humanitarian laws these Israeli practices are illegal and violate the right of freedom of movement. Israel as an occupying power is also obliged under international law to provide healthcare to populations under its occupation," Zaqout added. The Israeli regime denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages, and adequate healthcare and education.

Israeli agents have blackmailed Palestinian patients into working as spies at the Israeli controlled Erez crossing in northern Gaza, Press TV reports.

Husam Zaanin, from the town of Beth Hanoun, was the latest victim of the Tel Aviv regime’s spy network. The 28-year-old was detained on July 23. He was one of four Palestinians arrested at the crossing despite getting permission from Israeli authorities.

Husam’s father told Press TV that his son was given permission to leave Gaza through the Erez crossing with his mother.

“Later that day, we received a call from an Israeli intelligence officer telling us that my son was arrested… My son refused to cooperate with them and that is why he got arrested despite his illness,” he added.

Husam’s wife said it was heartbreaking for her to be without her husband as their two daughters kept asking for their father.

Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights says many Palestinian patients in the Gaza Strip are blackmailed to work as Israeli spies to get exit permits through the Israeli controlled crossing.

Samir Zaqout from Al-Mezan Center said that Israeli agents use exit permits as a method to force Gazan patients into working for them.

“Patients are forced to choose either to collaborate with Israel or die in Gaza under the Geneva Convention or several international humanitarian laws these Israeli practices are illegal and violate the right of freedom of movement,” Zaqout added. The Israeli regime denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages, and adequate healthcare and education. (video on the link)

The sole path to liberate the land of Palestine is for the regional countries to join efforts to strengthen the existing model of resistance against Zionism, a political analyst tells Press TV.

“The Palestinians need the people and the states and the countries of the region to build capacity [for] resistance [against] Zionism and imperialism,” said Sukant Chandan in a Thursday interview.

He described Israel as “a dagger in the heart of the Arab nations and the people of the region” and noted that the Middle Eastern nations should direct their attention to this “common enemy.”

“The United Nations cannot magically do anything for Palestine if the Palestinian people are not supported by their neighbors in the region; this is the blunt reality,” the analyst added. Chandan criticized the regional countries for losing the plentiful opportunities to show solidarity against Israel and allowing the existing capacities to be “whittled away.”

He called on the Middle Eastern states to turn the tables on Israel by putting their weight behind a “resistance program” based on the model of the Palestinians' resistance and that of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement.

The analyst made the remarks ahead of the International Quds Day slated for Friday.

In August 1979, the late founder of the Islamic Republic Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as Quds Day, calling on Muslims to mark the annual occasion by holding street rallies.(Video on the link)

The Palestinian government in Gaza has warned of humanitarian disaster in the besieged enclave in the event the Egyptian authorities continued to close the Rafah border crossing. The ministry of foreign affairs said in a message sent Thursday on behalf of the government to regional and international organizations, human rights groups, and political and notable figures that the health and municipal sectors would be the most affected. The ministry appealed to all parties concerned with the Rafah terminal to work for its reopening to allow normal flow of traffic of people and goods. It pointed out that the allocated truckloads of fuel for the Gaza power station were not enough to operate the station in full, adding that power was being cut off for ten hours daily as a result. The ministry said that all Gaza crossings should operate normally and pressures should be exerted on Israel to end its seven-year-old “oppressive” blockade. The ministry said that the Egyptian authorities’ closure of the Rafah terminal on 5th July and its partial reopening few days later led to grave deterioration in the inhabitants’ living conditions. It said that the crossing was the only outlet for Gaza people with the outside world, adding that Egypt slashed its operating hours from nine to only four per day. It said that Egypt allows only 150 persons to leave the Strip daily and they should be holders of Arab or foreign passports or very ill persons. The ministry charged that the measure was a clear violation of the internationally guaranteed freedom of movement.

Fatma's wrinkled face reveals the sorrow of a mother who has not seen her daughter for eleven years. Fatma Khalil Mubarak (78) lives in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip. Her daughter, Lamees Ahmad Mubarak (44), has been living in Hebron in the West Bank since she got married in 1988. The last time Fatma saw her daughter was in 2002. Since then, Lamees has been trying to visit her family in Gaza, but she has been denied access every time she applied for a visitor permit to travel via Beit Hanoun ("Erez") crossing. Beit Hanoun crossing is the only access point for people from Gaza to travel to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and/or Israel.

Fatma explains: "My daughter Lamees went to Hebron with her husband when she got married in the '80s. She used to visit me frequently, and I used to visit her as my health condition was much better and crossing to the West Bank was much easier. However, since the Second Intifada, we haven't seen much of her. The last time she came was in 2002, but she has never been able to come back again since."

Several attempts have been made by both Lamees and her family to reunite since 2002; however, Lamees' applications for a visitor permit to the Gaza Strip have always been met with refusal. "This year, we have applied twice so far, but in vain. The permit was refused again. We have not given up yet. I will keep applying for a permit to see my daughter until the day I die."

Fatma's urge to see her daughter gets stronger every day, especially due to her deteriorating medical condition as she suffers from heart disease and hepatitis. "I do not know why I'm deprived of seeing my daughter," she adds. "She is my daughter and she only wants to come and visit me as I am very ill. Why is she always refused entry? She is not a threat to their security. She only wants to come so I can see her."

"We have tried everything. The last time we applied, we attached a copy of my medical report certified by the doctors to attest to how poor my condition is, but even that did not work. The Israeli authorities refused to give her a permit again. We all thought that it would work and that she would finally manage to come."

"The last time I went to visit Lamees in Hebron was seventeen years ago. Since I became very ill, it is hard for me to travel on my own. I do not even leave this house. I know that I might get a permit if I applied for one, due to my age and my medical condition, but what would I do with a permit when I cannot move and cannot go anywhere alone? My health condition does not allow me to. What if I died on the way? The Israeli authorities won't allow my children to accompany me to the West Bank."

Israel imposes a policy of territorial fragmentation on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The separation of the territories has had grave consequences on the fabric of society. It has influenced every aspect of the social life of Palestinian people. Fatma explains how the Israeli closure of the Gaza Strip has further prevented her and her family from fulfilling her role as a mother and a grandmother. "Lamees got very sick recently. I could not go to visit her or look after her. None of her family could either. She is there on her own. Her father became very ill before he died in 2008. He wanted to see her, so we applied for a visitor permit, but the permit was refused. He died without seeing her, and she could not attend his funeral. Now, I have seven grandchildren whom I do not know. Two of my granddaughters got married, and I could not attend either of their weddings."

The separation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank has made the simplest family occasions very difficult. According to Fatma, Lamees was hoping to attend the wedding of her nephew in Gaza, which was planned for after Ramadan, in order to celebrate the happy occasion with her family. "We were getting ready to receive her at the wedding and we were expecting her. We were disappointed to hear that her permit had been refused again. No matter how many times she is denied permission to come, I am always hopeful that she will get the permit the next time and that I will see my daughter again. I cannot get used to the refusals. I will keep asking for permits again and again."

Fatma recalls the days when Israeli restrictions on the movement of individual civilians via Beit Hanoun crossing were less strict: "In the past, when I applied for a permit, I would get it the next day. I would take a taxi from Gaza City to Hebron. We used to leave for Hebron in the morning and arrive before noon. It was only about an hour's drive. Nowadays, it's easier for me to see my daughter who lives in Norway than see my daughter who lives an hour away."

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip remain denied of their right to freedom of movement, and suffer greatly due to the restraints imposed upon travel via Beit Hanoun crossing. The restrictions were first imposed in 1994 and have become increasingly strict since the al-Aqsa Intifada. Eventually, the crossing was completely closed on 16 February 2006. Since then, Palestinians have been prevented from travelling via the crossing unless they fall under certain specific categories.

As a result, civilians in the Gaza Strip have been denied access to holy places in Jerusalem and Bethlehem to perform religious rituals. Students have been prevented from travelling to attend universities in the West Bank. Families are prevented from visiting their relatives in the West Bank and vice versa. Since the Hamas takeover in June 2007, the Israeli authorities have only permitted limited categories of individuals to travel via the crossing: patients in a critical state; international journalists; employees of international organisations;. These groups are allowed to travel via the crossing under limited circumstances, via complicated procedures, and are often subjected to degrading treatment.

The closure of the Gaza Strip, which Israel has imposed for six consecutive years, constitutes a form of collective punishment, in violation of international humanitarian law. As a consequence of the continued closure, travelling between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank has been rendered virtually impossible for Palestinians, and entire families are now separated. The forced separation of families is in violation, inter alia, of Article 16 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Article 23 of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which obliges States to protect the right to marry and found a family.

Palestinians in Gaza plan to challenge Israel’s illegal blockade at the costal strip by exporting local goods to Europe in ‘Gaza’s Ark’. The large fishing boat is being converted into a cargo vessel by local fishermen, who receive a salary for their labor, and foreign activists, volunteering on the project. Due to Israel’s six-year blockade, which prohibits boats from entering waters more than three to six miles from the shore, Gazans have not been able to export goods by sea since the signing of the 1994 Oslo Peace Accords. Additionally, most of the 10,000 fishermen who have historically relied on fishing as a source of food and income have been forced out of the trade. Gaza’s Ark has a multi-layered effect. The 78 feet (24 meter) long vessel is expected to export products including fruit and farm produce, furniture, embroidery and other crafts in addition to over 100 passengers, thereby boosting the trade. It also works to revitalize the dwindling ship building industry and “ensures the transmission of this disappearing expertise (another effect of the blockade) to the younger generations,” their website states. One local is quoted saying, “Export by sea will resuscitate farming and light industry in Gaza and will ease unemployment... and help to lift this oppressive blockade.” Although Gaza’s Ark alleviates the small region’s unemployment by paying wages to the boat builders and providing business opportunities to traders, Mahfouz Kabariti, the project’s manager stresses that, “The aim is not aid or humanitarian, like the boats that were coming to Gaza, it's a commercial venture to support the Palestinian economy and pave the way to exporting Palestinian products.” Their website reiterates that the ark “is a peaceful action against the blockade, which Israel unilaterally and illegally imposes on Gaza.” Despite high spirits, the possibility of confrontation with Israeli forces is a worry to both those planning to sail the boat to Europe and craftspeople, who are investing money and time into products they hope to sell. One local is afraid that the navy may "open fire and sink the Ark, or arrest those on board like they did in 2010 and seize the goods.” Israel has historically targeted peaceful, non-violent direct action against the blockade with violence and sabotage. In 2010 Israeli forces responded to Freedom Flotilla campaign by killing nine, and injuring 50 Turkish activists, who were sailing to Gaza in the Mayi Marmara. It is impossible to forecast Israel’s reaction. Gaza’s Ark is the evolution of the flotilla movement. Andreasson, a Swedish activist who plans to sail on Gaza’s Ark said, "We've been sending ships to Gaza to try to break the siege, and this time we are turning it around and sending a ship from Gaza out to Europe with goods -- so we're trying to break the siege from within." In the same spirit, their website emphasizes the slogan, “Trade not Aid.”

Israeli occupation forces arrested Wednesday, five Palestinians from the village of Yatta, Al-Aroub and al-Fawwar refugee camps, south of the West Bank.

Security sources said that Israeli forces raided Yatta village and arrested Khaled Makhamreh, 40, Medhat al-Athamneh, 21 from al-Fawwar refugee camp near the village after searching their houses and rummaging with the contents.

The forces also searched several other properties including the house of Khalil Bahes, Ibrahim Makhamreh, and Ibrahim Abu Raya.

Israeli forces also raided al-Aroub refugee camp and arrested Wisam Sweilem, 18, Ahmed al-Khatib, 18, and Anas Awamleh, 20, and took them to an unknown location.

Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian from the village of Yamoun, west of Jenin.

Security sources said that Israeli forces arrested the 19-year-old Tayip Ammar Houshyeh after raiding the agricultural plain in the village.

A number of military checkpoints were also set at the main entrances of Samou' and Halhloul villages in Hebron Province, searched the Palestinians' vehicles and checked their IDs.